Hertz - Would you buy an ex-rental car from Hertz?

This is somewhat off topic.

I was looking for a nearly "new" car earlier. I came across Hertz Car Sales where they offer 1-2 year old, ~25K miles cars at fixed prices that are often considerably lower than the KBB retail price. Also, they seem to have wide variety of models (but only a few for each model).

Based on your rental experience, would you recommend buying a car from Hertz? Do you think Hertz does a good job of keeping their cars well-maintained and clean?

And what do you think of buying an ex-rental car in general? I guess a renter may abuse a sporty car, but if it's just a Camry ...

www.hertzcarsales.com

The prices are reasonable and you know the vehicle has been serviced. I can imagine you can guess the downfall with a car having so many drivers over a short period of time.

Avoiding sporty cars and Kia's would be wise. I would say you are pretty safe going with a boring Chevy Cobalt or a Camry. But I would bargain the price lower that their asking price.

Nice idea

Q: Whats the fastest car in the world?

A: A Rental car.

Get the idea? NEVER buy ex rental or ex demonstrator cars. EVER.

depends on how long you will keep the car. 1-1.5 years? Sure! Anything more than that...maybe not. Remember these cars generally get abused, hence the cheap price.
Your call.

This is somewhat off topic.

I was looking for a nearly "new" car earlier. I came across Hertz Car Sales where they offer 1-2 year old, ~25K miles cars at fixed prices that are often considerably lower than the KBB retail price. Also, they seem to have wide variety of models (but only a few for each model).

Based on your rental experience, would you recommend buying a car from Hertz? Do you think Hertz does a good job of keeping their cars well-maintained and clean?

And what do you think of buying an ex-rental car in general? I guess a renter may abuse a sporty car, but if it's just a Camry ...

www.hertzcarsales.com

I treat every Hertz rental like a test drive. I don't care how many times I floor it, hit the brakes hard, squeal the tires, etc., because it's not my car. That said, I would NEVER buy a used rental car.

One of my co-workers ls worse. He will go in an empty parking lot, drive around and pull the emergency brake to make the car spin, just for the heck of it.

I would never buy a rental car, but my BF bought a used 1 yr old Taurus back when we were in college. Still runs great, though boring and slow.

Just out of school I purchased a Chev Corsica from Budget Rent a Car.

It was a great cheap car that ran pretty good for three months before I accidentally rolled it down an embankment.

It had some problems with the brakes and drivetrain that was unusual for a car that only had under 20 000 km's on it.

It probably was run pretty hard but you do get a decent looking car for a decent price.

Based on your rental experience, would you recommend buying a car from Hertz? Do you think Hertz does a good job of keeping their cars well-maintained and clean?
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Let's see... A car that has had several hundred different drivers. Gets abused by the Hertz porters on a daily basis, Has probably missed 1/2 of it's oil changes and may have never had it's regular maintenance done.

A car that peoples attitude about hitting a curb, seeing how fast it will go or how good the breaks work and making a mess in it is "What the hell, it's a rental".

UH.. NO !

In the past five years, 3% of my overall driving miles was in a rental car and 97% was in my personal car. I have acquired four speeding tickets in the process. All four were in rental cars.

Conclusion: I wouldn't buy a former rental car.

who wrote about it so hilariously in 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream'...

What's the best handling car in the world?

A rented car!

I just love the screed where he's messing with the tire pressure on his rented caddy and the kid at the gas station won't help him with it (this was back in the days when there was a kid at the gas station to do your air and check your oil!)... as I recall he blows out some tires and then calls the rental car company and screams bloody murder to get him another car brought out right away... the nerve sending him out with a defective car!

of course the ice on the floor of the back seat to receive certain 'deposits' is another classic moment in rental car abuse.

haven't read the book in years but the OP's question brought it instantly to mind :)

I guess you know where I come down on the issue of buying a former rental

25+ years ago my parents bought an ex-rental car (this after one of my brothers managed to wreck the family station wagon). As I recall, it was not particularly cheap, certainly not a lot cheaper than a well-cared-for car off a dealer's lot. The car lasted for a couple of years - at least till said brother was off at college - and was replaced with a newer car.

I think I'd look elsewhere given how some drivers treat rentals (and the general mechanical condition of Hertz rentals I've recently had)... and given how I see the car-jockeys at the rental lots handle cars.

For me, I would say it's a 50/50 chance that I would buy one.

One of my FF friends bought a rental car and he had no problems with it whatsoever.

I suspect that rental cars are fairly well maintained and since people drive them hard they are thorougly tested for imminent failures :D

Some rental cars have 0 abuse. I rented an Avalon and returned it with 5k on the odo. That's 1/5th of it's time in the fleet. If the next 4 people do the same and drive reasonably that's a good car to get.

Knowing what I do to rental cars, I'd probably never buy one. If you had to, get one with a bigger engine (V6 or V8) -- it's less likely to have been flogged to death.

Based on how I drive rental cars, no way.

My parents purchased a 96' Maxima(w/17,000m) from Enterprise back in 97'. They still have it (over 100K), only problems they had was the radio went out and the motor for the power antenna died.

It really depends on the car:

American - no way
Japanese - probably safe

I baby rental cars because they're covered by my insurance. The ones to watch out for are the cars rented by people who buy the insurance waivers. Always remember this dialogue from "Seinfeld":

Rental car agent: We have a blue Ford Escort for you Mr. Seinfeld. Would you like insurance?

Jerry: Yeah, you better give me the insurance, because I am gonna beat the hell out of this car!

One drive with me in a rental car would cure you of this silly idea...

Accelerating for speed bumps is just the beginning, and some of my present/past coworkers are/were worse.

I treat every Hertz rental like a test drive. I don't care how many times I floor it, hit the brakes hard, squeal the tires, etc., because it's not my car. That said, I would NEVER buy a used rental car.

One of my co-workers ls worse. He will go in an empty parking lot, drive around and pull the emergency brake to make the car spin, just for the heck of it.

I often wondered who these people were:)

I have always lived by the philosophy that no car corners like a rental car. :D

That being said, no. :)

Against my advice, my little brother bought a Ford Focus from Hertz. The price differential from the Hertz car compared to a new car was for him, too good a deal to pass up as he is in college. He's had it for 3 years and put on about 40K miles. (So the car has about 60K total now.) No problems whatsoever.

Would I buy a previously rented car? Probably not. But in the interests of fairness, I thought I should point out his (so far) positive experience...

No, I would not buy a used rental car. IMO, they are run under very very stressful conditions (my crazy brake torques and 50 mph speedbump runs would testify for this). In additon, although Hertz seems to be fairly consistant with their upkeep, I would still be afraid to get one of those vehicles that hasnt had an oil change in 12k miles...

Another reason, think about all the premium cars whose engines prefer premium gas, but have been filled with the standard stuff their whole lives.

Once, I was at a station who ran out of 89 & Higher gas, and had to fill my Lexus with 87, and the car really didn't like it, and was running rough until the cheap gas ran out of the system and had the higher grade stuff back in.

I think rentals were not break-in properly.... i had rentals with 300miles on it and I still drive it at 90mph... I think those cars will die prematurely. I would pass the any deals on rental cars.

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===> See post #8 in this thread over at the AVIS forum from our expert ex-inside man ezmonee :

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=595380

For one, do not EVER, and I mean EVER, buy a rental car direct from a rental company.

These are whats called "risk" cars, or cars that were part of a guaranteed buyback program but failed inspection on turnback. buyback cars are inspected by at least 5 different people before it hits the lot for the end consumer.

Thanks, Heffa, very insightful info.

But in the next post, an ex-enterprise employee mentioned that Enterprise would sell the ones in the best shape presumingly to recoup as much $ as possible.

Not sure under which model Hertz Car Sales is operating

I bought a Kia last month from Enterprise for my wife. Other than a minor brake line leak, no problems. And I really do not see the leak as a problem at all.

Well, when you buy a new car you're guaranteed to take a big loss on depreciation, to say nothing of the taxes and increased insurance costs.

I sold two of my cars to friends and they had lots of problems with them. They thought they were getting great deals because I don't drive much and I take good care of cars. But you never know. Used cars are a gamble. (One of them was a 1-year-old Chevette with low miles, the guy insisted that he wanted it, and I warned him the car was a piece of junk. :) )

I posted in that other thread. Our ex-Enterprise Mitsubishi Galant is still fine. It's been way more solid than I might have expected after a few years, no big complaints except that it's such a low-rent interior. ;)

Hertz, though, seems to be more along the lines of what ezmonee described, so you may want to steer clear of buying direct. At the very least get the CarFax report before you buy it from them.

Certainly have to agree that a rental is never properly "broken in", which could lead to issues later in its life.

Carlos Mencia from Comedy Central says buying a rental car is like marrying a prostitute.

You don't know where it's been...and you don't want to know.

knowing how i and my co workers treat rental cars, i wouldn't touch one. think about how many people have rented a rental...what are the chances that at least a couple of them completely abused it. yeah, the chances are pretty high.

Carlos Mencia from Comedy Central says buying a rental car is like marrying a prostitute.

You don't know where it's been...and you don't want to know.

True....

I bought a Kia last month from Enterprise for my wife. Other than a minor brake line leak, no problems. And I really do not see the leak as a problem at all.
I suppose it depends on how you feel about the wife!

The ex-Hertz guy sez:
Don't buy one. Almost all cars are abused somehow over the life of them. First, I must say that the maintainence record will be nearly perfect--and for those who have assumed a rental car was sent 12k miles between oil changes are just making things up. The only exceptions to the disruption of scheduled changes would be: 1) several week rental puts several K miles on it, thus bumping over by that much 2) slightly overdue changes rented out for single day rentals when the fleet is short 3) something crazy with a specific car possibly, etc

As for the abuse part, yes, they are obviously driven hard. Not only is that speeding and such, but mistakes by drivers who didn't know the car. You'd be suprised at how many people forget to take off the emergency brake and then bring it back in 30 minutes to complain about how it is starting to smell. Likewise, the woman who couldn't get it to go over 40 , ran the engine at full RPM--because it was a triptronic and she didn't just put it in drive.
Once the employees get a hold of it, its another story. When you're paid by the units moved, you tend not to care about speeds, hard corners, stop signs, and the like.

A couple of friends have bought ex-Hertz machines and never had any issues with them. 3 for 3 in my limited knowledge, in fact.

That said, I'm always reminded of Jeff Foxworthy's comment about ex-rentals...

(rough paraphrase)

"Buying a used rental car is like going to a brothel to find a wife. Anything that's been driven that hard by that many people, you don't want to put your key into."

But I think the truth is that while we all talk about using the rentals like that scene in "Days of Thunder" the truth is we are all pretty decent about how we treat them. And that's why you don't really hear many horror stories about them.

Steve

As a rule for me the nicer the car, the better I treat it. If I'm upgraded to an Avolon, I may go as so far as getting it washed midway thru my rental.

If they stick me with a Taurus, I aim for every pothole, puddle and speedbump I see.

but mistakes by drivers who didn't know the car.

I rented a Ford Expolorer from Hertz. Driving on the interstate I couldn't understand why there was so much road noise. And the rear window was so clear, it was like it wasn't there at all. :)

When I was loading the car, I couldn't figure out how to open the rear door, but I must have unlatched the window.

I bought my Sable as a certified used car at the Lincoln Mercury dealership. It had 16,000 miles on it. It has been perfect since the day I bought it. The paperwork indicated it had been a rental car.

I would never buy a rental car. I know what I used to do to them... and used to rent cars 10 days a month from the same location in Chicago, from talking to the agents they also agreed they would never buy a rental car after the things they saw done to them.

Many times if there was a problem with the car, they would just fix it and send it to the sale lot.

The ex-Hertz guy sez: ...

Crink, would you know how Hertz decides what cars to put on their lots vs wholesale auctions?

Someone mentioned that Enterprise sells the one in best shape to recoup as much $ as possible, while Avis sells the "problematic" ones that have been rejected from the auctions.

Can you make the same arguments about buying a leased car? These are often late model, high mileage, and cheaper than its listed KBB value.

Here I think the leasee is responsible for some of the damage beyond normal 'wear and tear' and so is less likely to abuse the car.

Jayson

Can you make the same arguments about buying a leased car? These are often late model, high mileage, and cheaper than its listed KBB value.

Here I think the leasee is responsible for some of the damage beyond normal 'wear and tear' and so is less likely to abuse the car.



Also the leasee normally is driving the car for atleast 2 years.. they might drive it very hard.. but leased cars do not normally get the outright abuse rented ones do :)

While I agree leased vehicle tend to be in better shape than ex-rentals, I don't think they can be readily found at a price lower than the KBB.
Those late-model, off-lease vehicles usually go into the certified used vehicle programs where they carry handsome markups.

i know how most people are driving with rental cars.

a leased car or a showroom car is much better in my opinion.

dp

Can you make the same arguments about buying a leased car? These are often late model, high mileage, and cheaper than its listed KBB value.

An economist actually researched this and won the Nobel. A very interesting read.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Market_for_Lemons

As for the abuse part, yes, they are obviously driven hard. Not only is that speeding and such, but mistakes by drivers who didn't know the car. You'd be suprised at how many people forget to take off the emergency brake and then bring it back in 30 minutes to complain about how it is starting to smell.

Is that why, when I pick up rental cars, the parking brake is never on, and when I return the rental cars, the rental company employee always unsets the parking brake?

a leased car or a showroom car is much better in my opinion.

A lot of used cars on dealer lots are ex-rental cars. And a lease is like a long term rental...

Probably the best used car is one from a person you know takes good care of his/her car, and provides full records. But that is a lucky rarity.

Is that why, when I pick up rental cars, the parking brake is never on, and when I return the rental cars, the rental company employee always unsets the parking brake?

Well they are automatics... no reason to set the parking brake :)

I bought my Expedition from Budget auto sales. 18K miles on a two model year old vehicle. Paid $15K under original sticker.

I would do it again.

BTW - I'm taking down names of people I won't loan my car to. ;)

I still recall a long-ago consulting team leader's mantra on rental cars:

"If you go over a speed bump, and don't hear the undercarriage scrape, you could have done that faster."

I still recall a long-ago consulting team leader's mantra on rental cars:

"If you go over a speed bump, and don't hear the undercarriage scrape, you could have done that faster."

Too true..... But it's always akward when you hear some loud noises when you do go too fast. :D

I'd never buy a rental, they've been through all hell and back.

I would never buy a car direct from Hertz. They are cars that could not get sold at auction for whatever reason. Dirty Carfax, barely passing inspections, etc. That is why they are there or at a DriveTime! The rentals that do get sold at auction and go to your Ford, Chevy, or Carmax type of dealers are not bad as long as they have 15k or less. It is amazing as a former car sales person the difference between a 10K to 15K rental and a 20K to 25K rental. That extra 5K to 10K of bad rental driving starts to take it toll on the car! Now that the warranty revolution has started dealers have to be picky about which ones they buys as they are the one replacing the tranny or what not when it goes prematurely!

To some it up : They arent the best but they are a nice buy for the money!

In 2004 I bought a 2003 toyota camry from Hertz for $13,000 and it had 8000 miles. In the Virgin Islands that is a good deal since 2 year old base model camrys were going for 18K down here. I still own it and it works good but I suggest if you do buy it inspect every square inch.

after I bought it I realized that the car had been in some accidents. the front end was obviously smashed and not rebuilt properly. Ill save you the details

the windshield was obviously smashed and not replaced properly. whenever it rained the interior would get wet.


those were the only 2 problems. I am satisfied since I got it for cheap. the car runs great. After 2 years of ownership I could probally sell it for 12K now so Im satisfied with it

I would not recomend buying a rental car for more than 75% of the KBB value.

From what I have experienced with how people drive (er...trash) rentals cars, my advise would be to BE CAREFUL. You may want to find out if it would be possible to have your personal mechanic check out the car first before buying it.

I used to furnish my sales fleet with former Hertz cars... over a few years.. twenty or so... never ever got burned..... These guys all did 40K miles a year... why not start with 15?

I always hear people talk about rental car companies and the extra attention they pay to scheduled maintenance.

I dont understand their motivation since they keep the car for only 2 years max.



The ex-Hertz guy sez:
Don't buy one. Almost all cars are abused somehow over the life of them. First, I must say that the maintainence record will be nearly perfect--and for those who have assumed a rental car was sent 12k miles between oil changes are just making things up. The only exceptions to the disruption of scheduled changes would be: 1) several week rental puts several K miles on it, thus bumping over by that much 2) slightly overdue changes rented out for single day rentals when the fleet is short 3) something crazy with a specific car possibly, etc

As for the abuse part, yes, they are obviously driven hard. Not only is that speeding and such, but mistakes by drivers who didn't know the car. You'd be suprised at how many people forget to take off the emergency brake and then bring it back in 30 minutes to complain about how it is starting to smell. Likewise, the woman who couldn't get it to go over 40 , ran the engine at full RPM--because it was a triptronic and she didn't just put it in drive.
Once the employees get a hold of it, its another story. When you're paid by the units moved, you tend not to care about speeds, hard corners, stop signs, and the like.

I always hear people talk about rental car companies and the extra attention they pay to scheduled maintenance.

I dont understand their motivation since they keep the car for only 2 years max.

Making sure they keep the factory warranty should be a motivation. I'm not aware of it not applying to the rentals, so they want the maintenance to be performed as specified in case of a warranty repair.

I treat every Hertz rental like a test drive. I don't care how many times I floor it, hit the brakes hard, squeal the tires, etc., because it's not my car. That said, I would NEVER buy a used rental car.

One of my co-workers ls worse. He will go in an empty parking lot, drive around and pull the emergency brake to make the car spin, just for the heck of it.

Very True. I can assure you that in every rental this has been done at least ONCE to the car. Why would you want to purchase a car that has been treated poorly?

I bought a Kia last month from Enterprise for my wife. Other than a minor brake line leak, no problems. And I really do not see the leak as a problem at all.

So many things wrong with this...

Let's see... A car that has had several hundred different drivers. Gets abused by the Hertz porters on a daily basis, Has probably missed 1/2 of it's oil changes and may have never had it's regular maintenance done.


UH.. NO !
I love these maintenance theories. I just rented from Hertz and they had a sign up advertising sales -- it said the entire maintenance record was available -- so you can read when it had its oil done, brakes, whatever.

These companies make money renting cars. Not having them break down and be out of service for a week. They do the maintenance. A week off the line loses more money than the preventative maintenance costs. I wouldn't worry about that. Now, the 80 mpg over the speed bump thing.... thats another story.

And no, I didn't take the supplemental insurance, but boy, if I had.... :)

Both my cars are previous rentals. The first one, I've had for 5 years + now - no problems whatsoever.

I've had the 2nd one for a little over 2 years and again no problems.

Considering the savings in depreciation, I'd definitely reconsider buying a rental again...

Good luck!

Im not too worried about the hasrd driving. tires and break pads could change

FWIW, here are some observations after checking out the S. SF lot.
There is a $100 regular discount for AAA members, and periodic $300 promo, see AAA member magazine.

They showed me maintenance records for 3 cars.
1. They do send cars back for recalls, not sure if they also bill the loss of service fees ;)
2. On average, 4-5 oil changes were done on the 3 cars, all have around 25K miles. So, 5K per oil change, frequent enough to not void the mfr warranty.

When I tested drive one of them, I noticed 87% oil left.
1 car is from Hawaii, 2 are from CA. So, they do depose cars from other states, not just from local rental outlets.

All have pretty much new tires. They did a good detailing job although all 3 had minor scratches, they claimed that's FOL when buying from them.

A quick update. Exactly one year ago, I bought a 2006 Malibu 2LT from Hertz Car Sales near SFO. 27K miles, $15k all-in with Hertz's 48K extended warranty.

A minor scratch on the front bumper, otherwise a very clean car. Haven't had any problem after 9k driving besides wind noise somewhat more noticeable than my previous rentals with Malibu. A very relaxed and smooth buying experience.

Couldn't wait to buy the new Malibu from Hertz in a few years' time. :)

If one takes the time to read this thread from top to bottom, you will find that anyone who has actually bought a car recommends doing so, and in fact, would do so again.

Those who are saying no to the idea have never done it!

I will add my post to the first group - we did it, literally ran the car into the ground (due to years & miles, not abouse ;) ) and never had a problem.

Well, having managed the fleet department of a top 50 Hertz city, I can tell you that when we did have car sales locations open (the only locations open now are from non-corporate locations) we could only put the cream of the crop cars there. If they missed oil changes along the way, had burns in the seats, etc. we couldn't put them on the car sales lot. The reasoning behind this was two-fold.. first, we have a reputuation to keep up as much of the car sales business is repeat and referral business. Also, it costs a lot to recondition a car to put it on the lot...detailing, tires, windshield etc. That is why in late 2006 Hertz closed it's corporate car sales lots...it was cheaper to sell the car at auction and get it off the books. Remember we had to pay for those cars depreciating while they were selling on the car sales lot. And, after 90 days, if the car did not sell, we wholesaled it at auction, after putting at a minimum of hundreds of dollars into it to get it ready for sale.

I know rental cars are abused but its not like your buying at retail prices.

my camry was an 2003 and 13,000$ with 8000 miles. I bought it in 2004. 4 years later it is the best purchase I have made and I will do it again when its time for a new car.

I had good luck with my car from Hertz as well. 99 Maxima, got a smoking deal,good warranty -never had to have any warranty work done- and had it for 5 years. Never had a problem with it. If I ever was in the position of having to buy a used car again I would definitely consider another rental as the price couldn't be beat.